HR 5: Opposing any federal legislation that seeks to eliminate the private election phase of union recognition campaigns or that seeks to impose compulsory and binding arbitration on employers.
00 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 5 01 Opposing any federal legislation that seeks to eliminate the private election phase of 02 union recognition campaigns or that seeks to impose compulsory and binding 03 arbitration on employers. 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: 05 WHEREAS art. I, sec. 22, Constitution of the State of Alaska, guarantees individuals 06 the right to privacy; and 07 WHEREAS the Governor of Alaska and each member of this body either swore or 08 affirmed to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of 09 the State of Alaska; and 10 WHEREAS the right of a voter to cast a secret ballot in an election forms a 11 cornerstone of American democracy; and 12 WHEREAS private balloting in elections exemplifies American ideals; and 13 WHEREAS private balloting in workplace elections represents the most democratic 14 way to determine the wishes of employees and guarantee an outcome unaffected by outside 15 pressures; and
01 WHEREAS federal supervision of union recognition elections by the National Labor 02 Relations Board, a legal requirement for at least 60 years, provides detailed procedures to 03 ensure a fair election, free of fraud, where employees may cast their votes confidentially and 04 without coercion by coworkers, union representatives, or employers; and 05 WHEREAS limiting the process of union recognition to a "card check" procedure by 06 which employees sign or decline to sign authorization cards in the presence of coworkers, 07 union representatives, and employers does not promote an exercise of free choice by 08 employees; and 09 WHEREAS use of a card check procedure for a union recognition election creates an 10 opportunity for employers and union organizers to retaliate against employees because of 11 their votes; and 12 WHEREAS, in recent years, the vast majority of businesses targeted by union 13 organizing campaigns have been small businesses with fewer than 51 employees; and 14 WHEREAS small businesses are more likely to be unfairly subjected to the will of 15 union organizers because a small business possesses fewer resources to rely on during lengthy 16 legal proceedings that may accompany union recognition campaigns; and 17 WHEREAS efforts to eliminate the privacy of secret balloting in elections represent 18 an attack on the constitutional rights of businesses and workers to associate and speak freely; 19 and 20 WHEREAS employees who do not vote in favor of union representation should not 21 be forced to accept union representation and pay mandatory union dues, especially during an 22 economic recession; and 23 WHEREAS compulsory binding arbitration, which would force employers to accept 24 the terms of a first contract if the employer and the union cannot agree, is fundamentally 25 unconstitutional and would dramatically undermine the ability of an employer to negotiate; 26 and 27 WHEREAS compulsory arbitration discourages compromise during bargaining 28 because each party fears that an offer made to the other will be rejected and later used as 29 evidence against that party in an arbitration; 30 BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives opposes any proposed federal 31 legislation, like H.R. 800, also known as the Employee Free Choice Act of 2007, that seeks to
01 eliminate the private election phase of union recognition campaigns or imposes compulsory 02 and binding arbitration on employers; and be it 03 FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives supports democracy in 04 the workplace and the preservation of every worker's right to decide privately whether or not 05 to allow a particular union to represent that worker's interests; and be it 06 FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives urges the Governor of 07 Alaska to use all available means to do what is necessary to fully support and defend the 08 Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Alaska. 09 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 10 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 11 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of 12 Representatives; the Honorable Hilda L. Solis, United States Secretary of Labor; the 13 Honorable Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the 14 Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, 15 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.